BHA: ugnet_: Litmus test proposed for pseudo-science

[dbbwanika@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Lugemwa FN <lugemwafn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Litmus test proposed for  pseudo-science
>John Scott
>
>'Pseudo-science' can be distinguished from legitimate
>science by asking a series of questions about its
>goals and how it is practised, rather than whether it
>is a credible explanation of the natural world,
>according to an expert working group set up by the
>International Council for Science (ICSU).
>
>Making this distinction, says the group, should also
>help to clarify how traditional knowledge, once it has
>been distinguished from 'pseudo-science', can
>strengthen modern science and contribute to a wide
>variety of sustainable development practices in areas
>that range from medicine to environmental management.
>
>"There are many different ways of knowing and
>learning," says Jane Lubchenco, the incoming president
>of ICSU. "Traditional knowledge represents a different
>tradition from modern science. The challenge is to
>define it in a way that recognises its value and does
>justice to its tradition without giving credibility to
>pseudo-science such as creationism."
>
>The working group was set up following concern over
>the endorsement of the contribution of traditional
>knowledge to modern science at the World Conference on
>Science, organised jointly by the United Nations
>Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
>(Unesco) and ICSU in Budapest in July 1999.
>
>One of the two documents agreed at the end of the
>conference, the so-called Framework for Action, says
>that "governments should support cooperation between
>holders of traditional knowledge and scientists to
>explore the relationships between different knowledge
>systems and to foster interlinkages of mutual
>benefit."
>
>When these conclusions were subsequently discussed at
>the general assembly of ICSU, concern was expressed
>that such knowledge, in the words of a resolution
>passed by the assembly, needed to be distinguished
>from "approaches that seek to promote anti-science and
>pseudo-science."
>
>Such concern was prompted by, for example, the
>increasing popularity of so-called 'creationist'
>theories in the United States, whose supporters deny
>the legitimacy of Darwinian evolution on the grounds
>that it conflicts with the description of the creation
>of the world contained in the Bible.
>
>In a bid to address this issue, ICSU set up a working
>group made up of sociologists, philosophers of science
>and experts in fields such as ethnobotany, and chaired
>by Jens Erik Fenstad, a Norwegian mathematician and
>former rector of the University of Oslo.
>
>In its report, to be submitted to the next general
>assembly of ICSU in Rio de Janeiro at the end of
>September, the group points out that the interaction
>between science and traditional knowledge  must be
>kept distinct from issues of pseudo- and
>anti-science".
>
>The group points out that early hopes of finding a
>sharp criterion that would unambiguously differentiate
>science and  pseudo-science  have not been fulfilled,
>and are no longer entertained, largely because of a
>growing awareness of the extreme diversity of
>scientific practices.
>
>As a result, it says, "the demarcation of science from
>pseudo-science can certainly not be achieved by a
>single universal criterion", as "what counts as good
>scientific practice in one scientific field may be
>outdated or even inappropriate in another scientific
>field".
>
>However two main approaches present themselves, says
>the group. A sociological approach   which can, for
>example, be applied to creation science   reveals that
>"a pseudo-scientific field is always in more or less
>explicit competition with a corresponding science from
>its very birth, and it is typically not propounded by
>people with an education in the scientific field it is
>competing with."
>
>But this approach alone cannot define
> pseudo-science , as even within the scientific
>community, minority views can challenge prevalent
>traditions without becoming unscientific. Additional
>evidence is therefore required.
>
>Here it suggests using an epistemological approach
>based on the intellectual content   under which
>science is characterised as being more systematic than
>comparable pieces of everyday knowledge.
>
>This applied to six aspects of science: how it
>describes, how it explains, how it establishes claims
>about knowledge, that it has an ideal of completeness,
>how it expands knowledge and how it represents
>knowledge.
>
>"In any area of science, the tendency to increase the
>systematicity of knowledge in all practically possible
>directions can be observed," says the panel. "In
>contrast, many of the pseudo-scientific fields are
>comparatively static." For example, it says, it is
>extremely rare for such fields to attempt a systematic
>assessment of their claims.
>
>Demarcating  pseudo-science  from traditional
>knowledge is fairly straight-forward, says the study
>group, as the latter is a cumulative body of
>knowledge, know-how, practices and representations
>maintained and developed by peoples with extended
>histories of interaction with the natural environment.
>
>
>"It has thus typically originated quite independently
>of science in a particular cultural setting, mostly
>also quite independently of Western culture," says the
>group. "Traditional knowledge is therefore neither
>intended to be in competition with science, nor is
>such a competition the necessary result of their
>interaction. Pseudo-science, on the other hand, tries
>at least partly to delegitimise existing bodies of
>scientific knowledge by gaining equal epistemological
>status."
>
>The panel's report appears to have succeeded in
>avoiding a potentially damaging split with ICSU on the
>issue. "It is a useful report," says Sir Brian Heap, a
>plant physiologist and former foreign secretary of
>Britain's Royal Society, who was one of those who had
>expressed concern at an uncritical acceptance of the
>World Conference conclusions.
>
>"I was particularly pleased to see that they have
>clarified the situation concerning traditional
>medicine, emphasising that we were not trying to
>exclude this from modern science. Indeed in some areas
>the report is quite scholarly."
>
>Lubchenco emphasises the importance of integrating
>traditional knowledge into environmental management.
>"From my point of view the world needs as much good
>information as is available," she says.
>
>*********************************************
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
>http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
>


--









































































____________






Bwanika

url: http://www.uganda.co.ug
e-mail: dbbwanika@xxxxxxxxxxxx





















__________________________________________________________________
Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/

Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/



     --- from list bhaskar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---